《Realm of Exaltia》[3] The Unfortunate Guide
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The current realm of Exaltia is currently divided into four sovereign kingdoms. They were represented by the four great elements namely: The Terra Kingdom, Ignis Kingdom, Aero Kingdom, and Aqua Kingdom.
Currently in the outskirts of the Terra Kingdom lay an enraged female violently cursing the name of a True God.
“Damnable god! You scoundrel! At least, you could’ve left me some clothes!”
All right, Herebia is currently stark naked and is in the center of a white sand beach. She violently grinded her teeth as made her way toward a nearby forest.
Actually her clothes back in Divas was materialized due to Aven’s power. Naturally, when she left Divas the clothes made of Aven’s power would be gone like bubbles. The physical manifestation of the Chaos Tome which was the black book had also been disintegrated but the knowledge it contains have been imprented on Herebia's mind. And so without clothes, Herebia’s sexy curves were revealed to the world.
No one was in the beach, which to Herebia’s relief. Remedying this small problem, she used the Chaos Tome to materialize herself a black flowing dress. This design was not like the one she used before because Herebia now treats that design as a death flag.
Herebia pondered on what she needs as that sorry excuse of a god did not even give her a decent starter kit. She only had her Chaos Tome.
She paused for a while but she helplessly shook her head. What she needed now was information. Even a commoner could give her a lot. So what she needs to do first is simple.
Kidnap someone and get every information she can get out of them.
It would be a piece of cake as she had the Chaos Tome as her aid.
She mused about his notion for quite sometime as she proceeded onwards the forest. She naturally cannot use Exodus as the lands of Exaltia would’ve surely changed after a millennia. Buildings familiar to her would surely fall and many new infrastructure would surely rise.
In actuality, Herebia is more curious about this eras sovereigns. She was curious as to how the humans divided the lands of Exaltia to themselves. Herebia knew that this division surely would’ve caused some minor wars.
“Damn snake.”
Snapping her fingers, a finger sized black ray shot towards a nearby tree and instantly killed a snake which was lying within. Herebia paused slightly and shook her head. This creature was too dumb for her to use.
This continued for a while as a bloody trail of snakes were left in Herebia’s treaded path. Normally, this forest was avoided by countless humans as this was the nest of snakes. Rumors also hints that a giant snake as tall long as 30 meters were residing within.
Of course, rumors could be facts while rumors could also be merely rumors.
Herebia’s eyes flashed with a lazy light as she was bored killing snakes. This is boring. How long is this forest walk gonna drag on? Come on, stop the filler ‘snake killing’ and get on with it!
As if the gods heard her wishes, they blessed Herebia with a jaw dropping, face falling, eye opening... dumb scene.
Currently, not too far away from Herebia, was a thin man running like he was on fire. The man ran like crazy and rolled on the ground like a lunatic.
Well, no one can blame him as literally his rear end is on fire.
The man thrashed around like a crazy gorilla and dragged his butt along the ground in hopes of putting out the fire. Contrary to the mans expectation, the fire burned eternally and was as persistent as the smell of a smelly rock which was pissed on for a year.
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It was an eternal smell. Similarly, this flame was like an eternal flame.
Watching the screaming butt-flamed man, Herebia literary smacked his forehead. Face palm. She shook her head as a wry smile hung on her face. She didn’t know whether she should cry or laugh or do both of them at the same time.
Surely she wanted an event to trigger but...
Seriously?!
Should she let the man burn to his idiocy or help and put out the fire?
The man still seemed to not have sensed her presence. This was not because of a concealment technique, as Herebia was actually around a two meters away from him, which was fairly close. It was because...
No sh*t sherlock. Who would pay attention to others when one’s butt is literary so hot that it hurts?
How did she chanced upon this scene? It was because, of this man’s scream. Herebia deduced that a slaughter was happening and wanted to join in the fun but...
After a while, the man had a superiorly awesome idea! He should undress!
This was Herebia’s concern in the first place. Why did the man not undress himself? He could be a dignified man of status who doesn’t want to strip naked in the woods or just a guy who was dumb.
And Herebia was on the spot because this guy was both a noble and someone who possessed a peanut sized brain.
As the man in front of her unfastened his pants, Herebia’s face sunk and she snapped her hand. The flames which was raging on the man’s rear end disappeared in a flash.
The felt much better and he couldn’t help but let out a moan. He turned around and saw a great beauty dressed in black which was staring at him. Although he was now safe, he became vigilant at the sight of a unfamiliar face.
“Who are you?!”
The man screamed at Herebia and he flicked his hand. A dagger appeared in his hand and he waved it at Herebia. Although this waving seemed threatening, Herebia looked at it as if looking at a kid who still stinks of milk who is handling a toothpick.
Herebia’s face turned calm as his opponent was only cannon fodder at best. She sighed and snapped her finger again as a thin cord of black energy as thick as a strand of hair wrapped around the dagger.
Like a string, the black energy pulled away the dagger and it floated towards Herebia’s hands, which shocked the man. She waved the dagger nonchalantly and flung it towards a nearby tree. The knife was covered with a sinister dark energy as it collided the tree.
Upon contact, the tree gradually dried up and withered. It became dead in no time.
The man’s face flashed with fear. If that knife did scratch him, it probably would have made him a human raisin.
“Um... Your too dumb for me to use much. Choose your fate: A) Human Raisin B) Mindless Puppet C) Human Vegetable.”
Seeing that the choices seem so severe, the man gulped his saliva. He raised his trembling hand and wiped off the sweat in his forehead.
“I-is.. Isn’t there another choice? Like a D?”
Herebia looked at the man and nodded her head down. “It looks like your not that dumb. Fine, I want a concise explanation about this place.”
The man scratched his head as he didn’t get what this beauty was spouting. This ‘explanation’ about this place was really vague.
“Sigh...”
Sighing deeply, Herebia knew that a lot of information dump is probably going to happen. She once again snapped her finger and a thread-like black energy bound the man on his wrist and his ankle. Next, a thread connected him and a tree as he was pulled up in the air for as high as 3 meters.
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* * * * *
It seems like the man was named Hilroy. He was a noble of the Terra Kingdom and they were currently at the border between this kingdom and it’s neighbor, the Ignis Kingdom. The relationship between this two kingdoms seem to be quite rocky.
“So, why the flaming butt?”
Hilroy frowned and chuckled wryly. That flaming butt scene was indeed humiliating and he was glad that none of his noble friends saw that scene.
“It was because of those Flame Practitioners of the Ignis Kingdom. They have come in a skirmish against the Terra Kingdom and the poor me, which was caught up in it, managed to luckily escape with only a flaming butt.” Hilroy paused for a moment and then slightly shivered. “If I wasn’t lucky enough, you would’ve seen a human barbecue.”
Herebia’s eyes glittered as a new terminology was presented to her. Flame Practitioners. She was filled with curiosity and she deduced that this ‘Flame Practitioners’ were the cause of extinction of the four major bloodlines.
“Flame Practitioners, what are they?”
Slightly taken aback, Hilroy was stunned. “Where have you lived? Have you never walked out of the mountains? How are you dumber than me?”
Her eyes twitched and Herebia nearly blasted Hilroy’s face with [Zera : Death]. Dumber than you? Even a monkey would be smarter than you!
“Answer the freaking question or I’ll cut off your toasted meat buns and stuff it into your mouth!”
“Okay! Okay, sheesh. They are elite soldiers, or should I say citizens, that have successfully learned the arts of Ignis Syllabus.”
Herebia closed her eyes and twirled her black hair. It seems like this ‘Ignis Syllabus’ is quite similar to her Chaos Tome.
“Wait. If by going to obvious logic, there should also be an Aqua, Aero, and Terra Syllabus along with this Ignis Syllabus, right?”
“Well, yeah. Each kingdom houses a Syllabus each and those books are treated as priceless treasures.”
“Priceless treasures? Then why are some small fry like a soldier able to learn it?”
Hilroy sighed at the word ‘small fry’. “Although it is only a degraded version and not the original one, it is actually still fearsome. The Practitioners of a kingdom could be treated as their most elite soldiers ever.” Hilroy paused for a moment and then commented. “By the way, what kind of magic is this? I never heard of a Syllabus generating black threads.”
Snapping her fingers, Herebia ignored Hilroy’s questions. The threads that bounded Hilroy’s wrist, ankles and himself on a tree disintegrated into a black smoke which caused him to fall down.
Hilroy was not completely useless as when he was released, he somersaulted in order to land on his feet. Unfortunately for him, his feet landed on a rock...
While thankful that he was not that injured, he walked towards Herebia in a staggering manner. His butt was toasted and his feet hurts (It is not injured, it only hurts) which caused him to grumble.
Herebia cast a sidelong glance at Hilroy and commented, “Aren’t you a noble? Can’t you just heal yourself?”
Hilroy looked at Herebia in a deadpan look. What? Heal myself? Is there even such a thing as good as that?!
“I can’t.”
Herebia rummaged through her memories and exclaimed in shock. That’s right!.. The four bloodlines are extinct...
“Then if you can’t, do you know someone who can somehow control water or fire without the aid of a Syllabus, heal themselves or teleport through the wind?”
Scratching his head, Hilroy rested beneath a tree. He looked over at Herebia and looked up at the sky. “Not that I don’t know any, It’s just that I don’t know their names. Those abilities you spoke of could only be found in Aqua kingdom’s people. They are known as ‘Saints’."
Hearing the word ‘saints’ Herebia nearly let out a disdainful chuckle. So... the four bloodlines still exist, huh?
“Anyway, we are currently at the Terra Kingdom territory right? If so, become my guide and lead me towards the capital.”
“Okay.”
Hilroy agreed and looked at Herebia with a meaningful look. It seemed like he wanted to request something and he was calling over Herebia.
Sensing his intentions, Herebia walked forward and arrived in front of Hilroy. Seeing Herebia, Hilroy’s face lit up and he stretched both his hands towards Herebia.
Herebia backed off and was on guard. “What are you doing?”
“Carry me.”
“You wish. Walk on our own.”
“Please...”
“Want me drag you on the ground?”
“...”
Sighing deeply, Hilroy stood up violently which resulted in him bumping on a branch of the tree which he was using for shade. Due to the impact, he became dizzy and walked forward like a drunkard.
Unfortunately for him, he tripped on a rock which resulted in him planting his face on the ground. Herebia grimaced towards his misery as that was not the end. The branch which his head bumped to contained the nest of hornets which... you know.
“Wow. Such misery. You know, your lucky that you still survived after all these years with such bad luck. I bet if we went to the capital, something unfortunate would happen.”
Sighing deeply, Herebia used the Chaos Threads to drag Hilroy with her as they proceeded towards the capital. After a hour, Hilroy woke up.
“Um... Lady?”
“What? You still alive?”
“Um... where are we going?”
“To the capital of course!”
“Unfortunately... that is the wrong way...”
Herebia’s eyes twitched as she held back herself from smashing her face on a rock. Right, she did not know where she was going...
She sighed and proceeded towards the direction that Hilroy was pointing at. She walked onwards while a floating Hilroy who was tied to Herebia like a kite followed suit.
In the deep recesses of the forest, two glaring eyes lay. They were crystal clear and are colored green. The iris was sharp and contained boundless ferocity and schemes.
Through the eyes, the figure of Herebia and Hilroy was being reflected. Soon the eye returned to normal and it quietly closed the two green eyes.
It lies in the forest... watching...
* * * * *
“Look here Hilroy, know your place! My name is not for someone of your status to know.”
“It’s just a name! Don’t be stingy!”
“Fine. Call me, Requa.”
The duo walked forth in the forest as they met with countless snakes which were ultimately gorged out by Herebia’s Chaos Magic.
“Say, that black magic of yours is quite powerful.”
Herebia paused for a moment and then looked back at Hilroy.
“How powerful? Is it more powerful than that Syllabus?”
Hilroy was about to respond but his ears twitched and his face turned serious. Herebia also noticed the incoming hostile’s and she flicked her fingers in order to release Hilroy. Landing on the ground nicely, Hilroy brought out his dagger which he recovered after Herebia threw it at the tree previously.
Soon, a red armored troop riding on red armored horses entered their sight. Leading them was... literary a snot filled brat. It was a girl whose age could not have exceeded 14.
“It seems like you could test out who is more powerful right now.”
“Who is that brat? Was that the one who burned your buns?”
“Yup. I think she did that for the lols.”
Herebia looked intently at the approaching troop of soldiers which numbered 15. Licking her dry lips, her hands were getting ready to cast spells. She was itching for a good fight as Hilroy was not even her match.
This was her first real fight after reviving.
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